5,545.84 ft
StableClear · 10.4 mph SSE
Good
Best window: 6:15 PM–7:15 PM
Level 3 hours ago · Weather 32 minutes ago · Denver - Centennial Airport
Cherry Creek Reservoir is managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Lake Insights displays its latest available elevation from USACE NWO District. Published reference elevations are listed below.
4.16 feet below full pool
−4.16 ft vs full pool
Cherry Creek Reservoir is currently 4.16 feet below full pool and has remained relatively stable over the past seven days. Levels held fairly steady over the past week while remaining below full pool; 30-day change down 0.80 ft.
Arapahoe County, CO · U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics at the lake location (not a lake-specific designation)
No Drought
36.9% of Arapahoe County, CO is still in official drought (D1–D4), even though most of the county is not in a dominant USDM drought category. These figures describe the surrounding county from the lake location, not the lake itself.
Severity
Weekly trend
Stable
Compared with last week
Official drought (D1–D4)
Yes
36.9% of the surrounding county is in official drought categories (D1–D4). Dominant category remains No Drought.
U.S. Drought Monitor · map date Oct 20, 2026. Updated weekly. Official drought means U.S. Drought Monitor categories D1–D4 (Moderate through Exceptional). Abnormally Dry (D0) is not counted as official drought. droughtmonitor.unl.eduView drought map for Arapahoe County, CO
Managing authority
Waterbody / project type
Official purposes
General factors for reservoirs like this
These are common influences for this type of lake. They do not identify the cause of a specific current change unless an operator update confirms it.
Rainfall & inflows
Rain and upstream river inflows can raise reservoir levels, especially after storms.
Downstream releases
When an operator releases water through a dam, reservoir storage can fall and downstream flows can rise.
Published reference elevation. Not necessarily a fixed year-round target for every project.
Managing authority: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers / Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Observation source used by Lake Insights: USACE NWO District
Who manages the lake and who publishes the reading Lake Insights displays can differ. Lake Insights does not invent a source label from the managing authority alone.
Shared background — not lake-specific facts
Lake Insights aggregates water level information from authoritative public sources such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, TVA, Bureau of Reclamation, power utilities, and other official lake operators. We preserve historical observations, calculate trends, and present lake conditions in a consistent format. For USACE NWO District, we link to the official source whenever it is available. Lake Insights does not predict future lake levels unless an official forecast has been published by the managing authority.
Full pool
Datum
Current-level source
Project / NID identifier
Dam / watershed (NID inventory record)
Dated National Inventory of Dams fields from a confidently matched record — design values and inventory dates, not live gage readings and not a current inspection or safety determination. An older or missing inspection date does not mean the dam is currently unsafe.
Last inspection date: Mar 24, 2025
Emergency Action Plan: Yes
Inventory record values only. Dates shown are what NID published for this dam entry — not a Lake Insights inspection or an up-to-date safety rating.
National Inventory of Dams · matched record: Cherry Creek Dam (CO01280) · last inspection date on record Mar 24, 2025
Flood-risk operations
Some projects store or release water under flood-risk rules when conditions require it.
Water supply
Some reservoirs support municipal, industrial, irrigation, or regional water-supply needs.
Hydropower
Hydropower projects may pass water through turbines when generating electricity.
Seasonal weather
Dry periods, heat, evaporation, and seasonal rainfall patterns can affect storage over weeks and months.